Great Big Show
"You oughta get a gig." That's what he told me nearly two years ago, and I was skeptical. In the fall of 2009, I'd been dancing again for about a year. I had performed in two community workshop productions at Ballet Austin's Butler Community School, but the thought of auditioning for a "gig" sounded a little silly at the time. I processed the idea slowly. I performed in a few more workshops. I co-produced a cabaret act for my birthday in 2010. But I didn't actually entertain the idea of an audition until last May, when I learned that a community theatre in San Antonio was producing the musical "Chicago" -- a great opportunity for a dancer like me who has been learning a wide range of Fosse choreography for the last three years. So I went. I prepared a song -- "Bye Bye Blackbird" -- it has about five notes in it, perfect for my less than confident mezzo-soprano- ish voice. And a group of us traveled to San Antonio to get some...